The Farmers Mart Dec-Jan 2020 - Issue 66 | Page 36

36 FOULRICE FARM DEC/JAN 2020 • farmers-mart.co.uk FURNITURE AND COLLECTABLE SALES Wishing Foulrice Farm continued success. FUR & FEATHER AND COLLECTIVE SALES *TUESDAY FORTNIGHTLY* *1ST SATURDAY OF THE MONTH* Entries day before sale 8:30am - 1pm Sale Box lots & electricals 4pm, collectables 5.30pm, Furniture 6pm (2 auctioneers) Collective entries Friday before sale 8am - 3pm.  Fur & Feather entries on the day 7am-8.45am.  Sale starts @ 10am BREEDING AND STORE SALE *EVERY ALTERNATIVE TUESDAY* Sheep at 12 noon. Cattle at 1pm PRIMESTOCK *EVERY THURSDAY* Pigs at 9am. Sheep at 9.30am. Cattle at 12.30pm SEE WEBSITE FOR DETAILS OF DATES & SPECIAL SALES Honorary award sees top breeder ready to help Charollais members Chris Berry talks with Charles Marwood about his hopes for the breed. www.thirskmarket.co.uk | [email protected] | 01845 523165 Thirsk Farmers Auction Mart, Thirsk Rural Business Centre, Blakey Lane, Thirsk, YO7 3AB RUSSELL GROUP www.russells.uk.com LEADERS IN AGRICULTURE, CONSTRUCTION AND GROUNDCARE EQUIPMENT WISHING MARWOOD FOULRICE FARM CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR THE FUTURE BRANCHES THROUGHOUT YORKSHIRE Please contact our Head Office on: 01653 698000 RUSSELL GROUP PICKING up trophies for his Foulrice Charollais flock has been something Charles Marwood of Foulrice just out of Whenby near Sheriff Hutton has been used to over the years, but his latest award as an Honorary Life Member wasn’t for the undoubted quality of his sheep but for his immense contribution to the Charollais Sheep Society. It is often easy to think that someone you’ve known for many years, as I have having not just written stories about Charles, his wife Valerie and their family but also having performed with him for 13 years when we entertained packed halls with The Singing Farmers concerts, has always been as steeped in the breed, but we all have to start somewhere. ‘I’ve been involved with the Charollais society for 37 years,’ says Charles. ‘The breed had been in the UK for about five years and it was just within a year or so of when Valerie and I started farming on our own that we took them on. We fancied having a go with pedigree sheep and wanted something which would fit in with an early lambing scenario and would give us a carcase which would get a premium in the market place.’ ‘Primarily we chose Charollais to breed commercial butchers lambs and the breed grew on us. Back in 1982 I pur- chased a life membership for the princely sum of £100 and it was probably some of the best money I’ve ever invested.’ Today’s farming enterprise at Foulrice, that now sees his son Stephen in charge Taking care of our customers & their animals for generations H.H. Smith & Son Whitby are pleased to be associated with Charles Marwood of Foulrice Farm & wish him well for the future. with Charles who turned 70 in 2018 getting the hang of being his son’s lad, is cur- rently run across around 230 acres with the main enterprise being the flock of 500 pedigree Charollais ewes alongside a small flock of 25 pedigree Teeswaters and 50-60 Dexter cattle. ‘Stephen is now in partnership with me and I’m starting to learn to do as I’m told,’ says Charles with his characteristic boyish grin. ‘I give him his head. He’s the next generation and we do mostly what he wants to do. He’ll make one or two mistakes as we did too but his heart and soul is in the job.’ ‘I am highly delighted to receive this award as an honorary life member of the society. It is an acknowledgement of the input you as a breeder have put into the society. Yes, we have always wanted success ourselves but my desire has always been that the society and the breed should flourish so that every member on the ground would have a good trade and good market for their sheep. It’s not good enough in any breed for just one or two breeders to be riding high.’ Charles feels the Charollais society needs to be leading the way for its members in the face of increased compe- tition, particularly in recent decades from the Texel and Beltex breeds. ‘I’ve always said, even in or own flock, there are no prizes for coming second. It’s a very competitive market and the Texel is now the predominant breed in the country. The Beltex has also come up. Bentham Auc�on Mart, High Bentham, Nr Lancaster, LA2 7HF A First Choice for Prime & Store Sheep Proud to support the Marwood family Charles Marwood of Foulrice Farm Saturday 15th August 2020 THE RAM-PAGE- 600 RAMS Inc. 100 Charollais Rams from Northern Breeders Inc. Annual Consignment from Charles Marwood, Foulrice Flock Tel:- 015242 61444/61246 (Sale days) www.benthamauc�on.co.uk